Suit: Ex-Albertville, AL, Firefighter Tricked into Posing with Nude Colleague

Firefighter Zachary Wilkins is suing the city of Albertville on claims that he was sexually harassed for months by co-workers.

In his complaint, filed Dec. 3, Wilkins said that he was forced to resign from the department as retaliation for reporting the harassment.

He is suing for the violation of his Title VII rights, which protect employees from discrimination based on a person’s race, appearance or sexual identity.

“I believe that I have been sexually harassed and discriminated against and retaliated against for making claims of sexual harassment,” Wilkins wrote in a statement late last year.

In his statement, Wilkins details several instances where he targeted as the subject of homophobic behavior due to a perception by his coworkers that he was “less masculine.”

“I was sexually harassed by my co-workers,” he wrote in his statement.

“Almost daily, I was subjected to jokes and gay-related comments both verbally and in group texts.”

Wilkins said that he was also tricked into taking a photo with one of his coworkers while they were naked.

“Within my first two weeks on the job, my co-workers called me into Firefighter Trey Green’s room,” Wilkins wrote.

“They all told me to sit on the bed. Green was lying on the bed covered up. As I sat with my back to Green, my co-workers stood in front in front of me and took my picture.”

“I did not know that Green had uncovered himself on the bed behind me and was completely naked. That picture was later sent to everyone on that shift.”

Wilkins says his co-workers also stole all of his clothes on one occasion while he showered, forcing him to leave the shower room naked in front of everyone.

When he reported what was happening to Lieutenant David Musick, a 22-year veteran with the department, Wilkins said Musick instructed him to tell Captain Mike Hill.

“After speaking with Hill, he called a meeting of my shift unit and said what happens on his shift stays on his shift,” he wrote.

“I did not feel comfortable reporting any further sexually harassing incidents to him.”

Wilkins’ statement goes on to detail what he says was retaliatory treatment from department leadership.

“During a firehouse tour by a group home on around June 20, 2023, Hill instructed me to demonstrate sliding down the firepole, although he knew I had not been trained to do that, “ he wrote.

“I fell from the pole around 8 feet. Although I complained of pain for several days, my requests for a CT scan were denied by Lieutenant Musick.”

“On or around August 23, 2023, when the heat index was 110 degrees and a warning was sent to the entire department, I was forced to run a Consumption Course run by Chief Beam, Co-Chief Soper, Captain Hill and Lieutenant Lathan.”

“They all acknowledged I looked sick before they made me run and I later tested positive for COVID. I got very sick while running the course, and when I returned to the firehouse, I was told by Chief Beam I had two choices: I could resign, or he was going to terminate me.”

On Aug. 27, 2023, Wilkins received a threatening text from an anonymous person calling him a litany of gay slurs and saying the city had the department “covered.”

The suit claims that a former co-worker, Evan Henderson, transferred from the Albertville Fire Department to the Boaz Fire Department, made a statement to the employees there regarding Wilkins’ complaints of sexual harassment, “The city has the back of the Albertville Fire Department,” and “The city covers their ass.”

Robin Lathan, the city’s communications specialist, sent AL.com the following statement in response to inquiries about the lawsuit.

“The city is in receipt of the lawsuit,” it reads.

“The allegations of the lawsuit are disputed, and the city will submit its response to the court in accordance with the rules of procedure. Unfortunately, because of the pending nature of the litigation, the city can have no further comment on the allegations of the lawsuit outside the context of the court case itself.”

Representatives for the Albertville Fire Department did not respond to requests for comment.

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